User blog:MollyMae/Travel
I've spent a great deal of time away from any place I would call "home". It has left me with the soul of a vagabond, never really calling any place home for long. I've lived in a hundred cities in dozens of countries on five continents. I've lived on three oceans. All of these places I remember for their own reasons. The coziest place I've lived was Montalcino. The most fun I've had was in Brisbane. Party (and everything else) in Tokyo. This was going to be a blog about Montalcino, but I realise now that Tokyo is a much better city to blog about (without uploading pictures, which I will eventually do). Tokyo is huge and that's an understatement. At 13,000,000+ people, you'll never be bored. At any given time of the day (or night), you can do whatever you want. There are malls that are open around the clock (and some that are only open at night). There are bars and clubs that open at 5 am and don't close until the sun sets. There are grocery stores, restaurants, book stores, parks, and even schools that cater to any schedule. This is one of the many reasons tourists enjoy Tokyo. It's probably number one, if not for the beautiful women. What else does Tokyo feature? I'm not going to lie to you and say that all of the food is great. It's like any other place--most people like some of the food. There are some local specialties that I enjoy (the Japanese equivalent of a dive bar is a hidden restaurant, usually just a window on a street). There's something special about getting rice with a double cheeseburger at McDonald's, too. The best part (which some of you have been laterally introduced to): Qoo. I love Qoo so much. It's amazing. *Sigh* Outside of the city (there are many parts of the city outside of the metropolitan area), Tokyo has everything from green, hilly countryside to sheer rocky cliffs by the sea. The biggest problem? Expense. While cars are (relatively) cheap, gas is not. Public trans is crowded enough to have signs warning of perverts. Other high points: 1) Comics and gaming are very popular 2) School girls wear uniforms 3) Tech is relatively cheap (especially when it's a mock) 4) Mock tech is usually of equal or higher quality than the original. =P 5) School girls There really are too many activities to name and a lot of the city's appeal is relative to other cities. In NYC or LA, people won't really go out of their way to help you. Almost anywhere in Japan, the people are courteous and respectful (this is a general rule, not a whole). Tokyo low points: 1) Cost of living is as high as, or higher, than DC. 2) Without an understanding of Japanese, it can be hard to get around.* 3) Gun laws 4) The aforementioned crowded public trans I can't list weather as a low point. Some people like rain. Some people hate earthquakes. *Shrug* *Note: There are still many locals (or tourists) who know the language well enough to help, but you're really doing yourself a great injustice by visiting and not having a basic understanding of Japanese. More to come later. Feel free to drop comments below. Maybe I'll get around to writing a post on Montalcino later this week. Category:Blog posts